Pair of woven silk Jacobite garters with inscriptions of support for Charles Edward Stuart. English, ca. 1745.

Pair of woven silk Jacobite garters inscribed 'God Bless the Prince and Save the King'; and the other 'While Whiggs and Rumps in Halters Swing'. The garters are striped in red, yellow and blue, and the lettering is in white. The colours are split to form a chequered pattern at the ends.

Given by Miss Penelope Phillips

A curatorial note in the 1955 register reads:

'Although garters had a purely utilitarian function, they were often taken as opportunities for Romantic of political indulgence. Some were acquired as souvenirs, many 17th century ones are inscribed 'Jerusalem' with the date. They were usually produced in pairs with a couplet. The chequered ends to the Jacobite garters are an allusion to the plaid worn by the Scottish supporters on the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart. Ribbons, tapers and garters were produced in quantity, particularly in and around Manchester. The more fashionable ribbons of this time were woven in London and Coventry'.

'The Manchester Magazine', 30 December 1746 : "Several looms have lately been employed to furnish watch strings and garters with this elegant motto God preserve PC and down with the Rump"; and 'Gentleman's Magazine' 1748 p.461 (essay on garters) : " ...not to be daubed with plaid and crammed with treason. I was creditably informed that garters of this sort were first introduced in the late rebellion by some female aid de camps [sic]". quoted in M. Darby, 'Jacobite Garters', Victoria & Albert Museum Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 4, October 1966, pp. 157-163).

T.107-1938